“Can we all get along?”

I get along with my siblings, Wilbur and Bella, famously, and assumed this was the norm.  But, I’m finding, especially within the human population, that sibling relationships are sometimes tense, fractured, and, in the most extreme, severed.  I’m not referring to childhood sibling disputes and rivalries, instead, I’m noticing this trend with adult sibs.  And, from what this pup has gathered, many of these familial relationships rapidly disintegrate, after the passing of a parent.

Unfortunately, I’ve witnessed this in my own human family, but, in speaking with others, this seems to be a much more common occurrence than I would have thought.  I’ve concluded, through my research of this phenomenon (talking to mama’s friends’ dogs & buds at the dogpark), that many adult children seem to demonstrate their grief over the loss of a parent, in destructive ways.  Deconstructing lifelong alliances with their adult siblings.

It appears to me, that human parents, regardless of the ages of their children, are truly the glue that binds a family together.  When one, or both, parents die, the glue can begin to dissolve for some human packs.  And, as the adhesive thins, I’ve noticed a tendency towards misbehavior.  The common filter that most humans have in place, that prevents them from saying or doing things that are not in the best interest of the family, can evaporate along with the parent.

Could it be, that with the loss of a parent, the grown human children are no longer concerned with parental approval, so, they now have no concern for the consequences of inappropriate behavior?  Or, is it the pain, and grief, that cause these humans to want to isolate?  And, it becomes easier to isolate since they’ve pushed away their siblings, by treating them rudely, and coldly, and, ultimately, fracturing relationships.

We don’t often see this type of thing within the dog world, so it’s baffling to me that it’s such a prevalent response to parental death for humans.  I’m extremely close with my brother and sister (note: we’re all adopted), and I cannot image a scenario where we would abandon each other.  In fact, I’ve heard uncountable stories of multiple-pet families, where one pet passes away, and it’s sibling gives up life shortly thereafter.  It’s because of how closely bonded we canine sibs are; we cannot stand to go on living without our brother, or sister, at our side.

Dear readers, once again, I implore you, to just think like a dog.  Through life’s traumas and dramas, try to remember to hold family close, regardless of circumstances.  If you have any pup-like tendencies, this shouldn’t be difficult.  I will leave you with a quote.  Granted, this one’s been overused (and slightly abused), but, I think it’s perfect, and from an unlikely source, which, for some reason, makes it more poignant.  So, I bark the words of Rodney King:  “Can we all get along?”